Will You Stay?
by cahula
Summary: This is just a feel good romance. Sakura and Lee are now in their early twenties. Lee is currently in the hospital recovering from his last mission. Sakura works at the hospital full time and mostly keeps to herself these days. Her character is different than in the anime series, she is quieter and keeps people at a distance...until Lee comes back into her life.
1. Chapter 1

_This is just a feel good romance. Sakura and Lee are now in their early twenties. Lee is currently in the hospital recovering from his last mission. Sakura works at the hospital full time and mostly keeps to herself these days. Her character is different than in the anime series, she is quieter and keeps people at a distance. _

Sakura entered the room quietly to check on her new patient. He had just returned from a dangerous mission and was sleeping already. She took the chart that hung on the wall to see what the nurse had written for her.

Hmmm, he's been treated for broken bones, internal bleeding, and minor head trauma...wow he took quite a beating, Sakura thought to herself as she continued to read through. The place where they make a note about the patient's mental state only said he was unconscious upon arrival.

She hung the chart back on the wall and quietly paced over to the bed to examine him. His arm was in a massive cast and bandages wrapped around his head with familiar black hair sticking out of the bandages. She looked at his face and her eyebrows raised at the sudden realization of who he was. She quickly went back to the chart and snatched it off the wall to look at the name. She felt a little pang of guilt that she didn't even look at the name. When did she become so cold towards people?

Rock Lee. It was definitely him. She felt her hands tingle as she hung the chart back and turned to him. She approached his side slowly and began checking the monitors. His vitals looked good. Very strong heart beat, she noted to herself.

She sighed from exhaustion as she took the chair next to his bed. It was the end of her double shift she just worked. They had been short on doctors the past couple of weeks because some of them were sent on an important mission. She was looking forward to their return next week so she could get back to her normal routine. She had been overwhelmed with long hours and taking on extra patients.

She smiled and chuckled quietly to herself as she looked at Lee. It had been a few years since she had spoken to him. She had seen him in passing from time to time at a distant and she always smiled politely as he greeted her. He hasn't changed much, she thought to herself as she leaned forward. He was always such an odd guy, but he was the type that would do anything for his friends. She was old enough to see beyond his weirdness now and appreciate him for the good guy he is.

She smiled at the memories of her friends when she was younger as she reached out to run her fingers through Lee's hair. It felt soft and welcoming as she continued to comb through it with her fingers. It was weird seeing him so still and quiet.

She sighed and whispered, "You'll be your usual energetic self again soon."

Hopefully he'll be awake tomorrow and I can examine him more thoroughly, she thought to herself, knowing Lee he'll be awake when I come back tomorrow...and he'll be doing his best to get out to go train.

"Sa-sakura?" Lee's hazy voice called to her.

Sakura froze a moment as their eyes met, her fingers still in his hair. She cleared her throat and regained her composure as she slowly withdrew her hand.

"I was checking your bandages." She said coolly. "You're in the hospital."

He tried to sit up, but Sakura stop him with both hands on his chest. "You need to rest, Lee. You got beat up pretty bad. They healed you the best they could, but nothing is a substitute for good rest." She smiled professionally at him. "Doctor's orders."

"You're my doctor?" Lee looked dazed as he blinked up at her. His vision was still a little fuzzy. How hard did I get hit in the head? He asked himself as he blinked a few more times. In any case, he counted himself very lucky to be with Sakura when he woke up and he could have sworn she was stroking his hair. It felt nice waking up like that.

"That's right." Sakura took a pen out of her lab coat. "How are you feeling? Any ringing in your ears?" She twisted the pen to reveal it was a small flashlight on one end and begin examining his eyes. So far, everything looked good she thought as she clicked the light back off.

"Nope no ringing." He smiled with fake bravado. "You're the best doctor. I'm actually feeling awesome right now!" He flinched when he tried to get up again.

"You need to keep still." Sakura said sternly, her expression matching.

"If that is what you wish that I do, then I will." Lee smiled as he settled back down.

"Thank you." Sakura sat back in the chair and sighed. At least Lee was cooperative unlike most of her other patients.

"You look tired." Lee observed the dark circles under eyes.

"I'm fine." Sakura crossed her arms and forced a smile. "So what happened?"

She already knew the story from what the nurses had told her, they just failed to mention it was Lee. Then again, she can't really get mad at them for that. None of them could have possibly known he used to be one of her classmates and in some instances a comrade in battle. She never gave any of them the chance to get to know her.

"Well," Lee said thoughtfully. "We were ambushed." His bushy eye brows shot up suddenly in a panic. "Is everyone ok?"

"Yes and thanks to you from what I hear. You sustained the worst injuries. Your teammates only had minor ones and they've already gone home to recover." Sakura rubbed her eyes.

"I'm very glad to hear that." Lee was visibly relieved for a moment before looking up at Sakura with concern. "You should really go home and get some rest."

She half smiled. "Stop worrying about everyone else. You need to focus on getting yourself better." He always did put others above himself.

"And part of me getting better is my doctor being well rested." He smiled, clearly proud of his wit.

Sakura laughed, she wasn't sure if it was the complete lack of sleep she had the past few weeks or it was actually Lee making her smile.

"Well," Sakura stood. "I guess you got me there. I'll be back in a little to check in on you, in the mean time, I expect you to stay in that bed and rest."

"I will respect your authority." Lee agreed.

Sakura gave him a small nod before turning to leave.

"Hey, Sakura-chan?"

She froze, she hadn't heard him call her name like that in years. She turned around, "Yes?"

"It makes me very happy to talk to you again." He gave her a big toothy grin. "Maybe I should get beat up more often."

Sakura sighed and shook her head, masking a smile. "Goodnight, Lee."

"Goodnight, Sakura-chan. I hope you rest well."

…...

Sakura sat up in bed, alarm beeping obnoxiously loud before she it the button. She thought about the dream she just had about Lee as she pushed her hair back from her flushed face. She wasn't even sure why she was so worked up, it wasn't anything that crazy. She had only dreamed that he was hugging her. She hugged her knees to her chest and thought to herself, well when was the last time I touched anyone other than to examine them? She shook her head and wrote the dream off as just a sign she missed her friends.

She looked over at her nightstand and picked up the frame that was laying flat down. It was the picture of her, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi. She smiled nostalgically as she touched the picture.

"Can't stay children forever I guess." She said wistfully before touching Sasuke's face. A few years ago, she had finally excepted the fact that he's never coming back. For a long time she looked at this picture every night and cried herself to sleep. Now when she looked at it, she just felt numb. Naruto had moved on, he and Hinata were happily married. She smiled and thought to herself, at least one of us got a happy ending. Well, Kakashi was still doing what he did best, reading those dirty books and training future shinobi.

"Time to go to work." Sakura set the picture back on the nightstand, face down in its usual place. She was showered and changed into her work clothes in less than 20 mins.

The night was beginning to fade away as she walked into the hospital. She greeted everyone politely as she made her way down the hall to Lee's room. She slowed down at the door when she heard him talking to someone. Normally Sakura wasn't the type to eavesdrop, but something made her hesitate on going in. She recognized Tenten's voice.

"I wouldn't worry about her. She's tough." Tenten said in a frustrated voice. "Don't you remember?"

"That may have been in the past, but she seems different now..." Lee clearly sounded worried.

Sakura got the feeling they were talking about her and decided she should probably go into the room. She opened the door the rest of the way and stepped inside. She wasn't surprised to see Nenji here as well. He and Tenten have been a couple for awhile now from what she had heard.

"Good morning." She gave them all a professional smile and looked to Lee who was sitting up. "How did you sleep?"

"Great!" Lee cheered.

Sakura cleared her throat, she concentrated on his chart to mask how awkward she felt.

"Sakura!" Tenten greeted her excitedly. "How have you been? Its been awhile!"

Sakura looked up from the chart with a small smile. "Great...uh it has been awhile. How- how have you been?"

"Things have been great! I have a team of my own now." She grinned. "I'm training them for the upcoming exams."

"That's great Tenten." Sakura smiled as she hung the chart back up. "Well things look in order here. Just be sure not to move that arm around too much. It was a monster to reset those bones so that they heal properly. You don't want them growing back together crooked do you?"

"No...unless you think it would give me a unique advantage over a future opponent?!" Lee perked up.

Sakura shook her head. "No it wouldn't."

"Hey, Sakura." Tenten spoke up. "You look like you could use some coffee. How about it? Want to go get some with me?"

Sakura smiled apologetically. "I wish I could, but I have to make my morning rounds now."

"How about after that?" Tenten wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Sakura could feel her temper begin to rise, she had difficulty keeping that part of herself in check when she was growing up. Tenten was just trying to be friendly, she told herself, even if its really annoying.

"I don't know." Sakura shrugged. "It's been pretty crazy around here lately."

"Well, it seems quiet this morning. Even you need a break at some point today." Tenten insisted with a stubborn smile.

Sakura smiled in defeat, may as well get it over with. "Um, ok. I'll meet you in the cafeteria in a couple of hours for a quick break."

Tenten looked like she just won the lottery. "I'll be there!"

Sakura nodded and left the room quietly.

"See?!" Lee pointed at Tenten.

"What happened to her? That's not the Sakura I remember." Tenten said.

"Maybe she's just tired?" Nenji shrugged.

"I don't know." Lee looked out the window. "Whatever it is, I don't like seeing her like that."

"Now that I think about it...she's really been quiet the past few years." Tenten tapped her chin thoughtfully. "She's really kept to herself."

"I should have noticed sooner." Lee's shoulders sank with guilt. "I've been so wrapped up in training that I didn't notice. I promised I would always protect her...I'm the worst friend in the world!"

"Keep the dramatics to a minimum Lee!" Tenten warned him. She hated it when he got all dramatic and gave a speech. "I'll see if I can get her to talk to me. I can fix this."

"Yeah, Lee. You need to stay calm." Nenji teased.

"Don't worry Nenji, you're going to stay here with Lee when I go to talk to Sakura later." Tenten patted his shoulder.

Nenji sighed. "I'm going to go find some cards or something so we don't die of boredom."

…...

"Hey." Sakura greeted Tenten as she sat across from her.

Tenten slid her a cup of coffee. "Hey! How's work going?"

"You were right. It's actually been kind of slow today." Sakura smiled.

"Glad to hear that." Tenten took a sip before adding with a smile. "Lee is going stir crazy. Its kind of funny."

"It hasn't even been 24 hours!" Sakura exclaimed.

"I know, right?" Tenten giggled. "He talks like he's been in here for weeks. He's always so dramatic."

Sakura thought about how he made her laugh last night and smiled to herself.

"So..." Tenten leaned in. "Anything new with you?"

Sakura came out of her daze and looked at Tenten, puzzled. "Like what?"

"Oh...you know...hobbies...maybe a boyfriend?"

Sakura choked on her coffee. "No...no no."

"So what do you do when you're not here?" Tenten shrugged.

"I research and study to improve my healing skills." Sakura answered quickly.

"Really? You don't ever do anything fun?" Tenten raised an eyebrow. "We should do something together soon!"

Sakura tried to think of an excuse and couldn't so she settled on shrugging.

"Sakura..." Tenten said quietly. "Are you alright?"

"What do you mean?" Sakura laughed. "I feel fine. I'm just a little tired from working over lately."

Tenten thought about being blunt with her, but decided to just drop it. Ambushing her at work with a discussion about life isn't exactly a smart thing to do. So she decided to just let it go and turn to a lighter conversation. They talked about funny training stories from when they were children.

Sakura was actually enjoying talking to Tenten long enough to let time get away from her.

"Oh, I need to get back to work. This was fun." Sakura stood.

"Yeah it was. We should hang out again soon." Tenten stood.

"Ok." Sakura nodded before walking away.


	2. Chapter 2

Lee could feel energy coursing through his veins as he sat in the hospital room alone. He had been here a week now and yet it felt like it had been years. It was almost too painful for him to stay put, but he was determined to do as Sakura asked. He wanted to prove to her that he cared enough about her to listen to her. He had tried to speak to her in the past, but she had always brushed him off by yelling at him or hitting him. But the past few years had been different, she would just smile politely and keep walking. He honestly preferred that she hit him, at least it would be some kind of sign of emotion.

He had accepted it years ago that she would never return his feelings for her. Instead, he had vowed to be the best friend he could be to her. He sighed, disappointed in himself for letting her down in that department. When did she become so withdrawn?

He had managed to make her smile from time to time while he was here. He had even got her to laugh a few times when they would take a walk around the hospital. She had finally let him leave his room a few days ago.

The door opened suddenly and Sakura stepped in. "Great news, Lee."

He leaned forward to show he was eager to listen. "I love great news, especially from my special cherry blossom!"

Sakura paused, "Wait, what?"

Lee shook his head embarrassed, he didn't mean to say that last part out loud. "Uhhh, I didn't say anything. You must be hearing things."

"Ok..." Sakura shook it off. "Anyway, you're free to go."

"I am?!" Lee leapt out of bed.

"Whoa...not so fast. You didn't let me finish." Sakura stepped in so close to him, he could smell her sweet fragrance. "Lee, are you listening?"

"Uhhh." His face reddened in a panic.

"You look feverish." Sakura pushed his bangs back to feel his forehead. "You do seem a little warm."

"Ahhh ohhh. Well, its just my normal youthful glow." Lee grinned, enjoying the sudden physical contact.

Sakura shrugged as she removed her hand from him. "If you say so, my hands are usually cold anyway. I'm sure you're fine."

Lee took her hand without thinking. "Yeah your hand is cold, but that's ok mine are usually warm." He looked up at her to gage her reaction...was she blushing?

She smiled awkwardly. "Yes your hand is warm." She should have pulled back immediately or he was going to get the wrong idea, but she hesitated a few moments before doing so. Truth was, her hand in his felt kind of good. She almost regretted pulling back.

She cleared her throat and continued. "Even though you recovered quickly...almost inhumanly fast...I want you to be very careful with that arm." She pointed at the arm that was in a much smaller cast than at the beginning of the week. The healing jutsu she used on him all week really helped speed the recovery. "And I need you to come back for a follow up exam next week."

"So does this mean I can -"

Sakura interrupted him. "No missions right now, and I would rather if you took it easy on the training...at least for another week."

He looked disappointed. "If that is what you want me to do, then that is what I will do."

Sakura spoke before she thought. "Hey I'm at the end of my shift, I'll walk you home."

His eyes lit up. "I would be honored! Or I could walk you home. Yeah I should probably walk you home first."

Sakura wished she could take her offer back. What was she thinking?

He pulled his hospital gown off quickly. Sakura was thankful he was wearing dark green pants underneath. Her eyes lingered a moment too long at his exposed chest.

"I'm going to go...grab my stuff..." She began walking backwards towards the door. "I'll be right back." She turned to leave and bumped into the closed door. She laughed nervously, "Oh, I thought it was opened."

Lee watched her leave. Did she just bump into the door because she was checking him out? Nah, that couldn't be it, he thought to himself as he pulled his grey shirt over his head. It hung a little loose, he noticed with a frown as he realized he probably lost a little weight. He paused a moment as he thought about Sakura bumping into the door and smiled. She didn't exactly pull her hand away when he touched it.

He danced around a moment with excitement, cheering to himself that he actually might have a chance with her...Sakura. The girl he's been in love with since he was a child. He deflated a moment when he thought of all the times she rejected him. Well, things are different now, he thought to himself. They're not kids anymore for one and he's not an awkward teenager. He laughed to himself as he realized she was the one being awkward now.

"Are you ready to go?" Sakura poked her head in the door.

"Yeah." Lee nodded.

They left the hospital quietly together. It was actually still a little bit of light outside, the sun wasn't set completely.

"Wow," Sakura stopped a moment to look around outside. "It's been awhile since I left before dark."

"Really?" Lee let out a low whistle. "You really should get out more. Sunlight is kind of nice."

Sakura bumped her shoulder against his. "You're lucky you're injured or I would clobber you right here."

"Oh, don't let that stop you!" Lee jumped back into a fight stance. "You want to spar?"

Sakura walked around him. "I would hate to break your other arm. Then I would have to go back to work."

Lee caught up to her. It felt good to be outside again, he breathed it in deep. "Hey let's go to the old training grounds."

"No." Sakura said flatly. "We need to get you home."

Lee pleaded. "Aw, come on Sakura. Just for a minute. It's been forever since I've been outside."

She made the mistake of looking at him and found that she couldn't say no. "Fine, but just for a minute."

"Ok, I bet I can beat you there!" Lee ran before she could stop him.

"Dammit Lee!" Sakura shrieked.

She thought about just going home, but then her conscious nagged at her for even thinking of doing that. She needed to make sure he got home safe, it was part of her job. She groaned loudly before running after him.

At first, her legs protested, tired from working all day. Then, as she caught up to him she felt something inside of her spark.

"Out of the way, Grandma!" She teased Lee as she ran past him. She felt a rush of adrenaline, it been a long time since she felt anything like it. She laughed as the wind whistled in her ears.

Lee smiled as he watched her run ahead. He let her stay ahead until they got outside of the village, he ran ahead of her.

"Hey!" Sakura shouted.

Lee turned around to face her as he continued to run backwards effortlessly. "Not bad Sakura, but you need to train more."

"We'll see about that." She leaned into the run.

Lee had to turn around and run harder to stay ahead of her. They ran out into the big open field, Sakura right at Lee's heels.

"I win!" Lee shouted pumping a fist in the air, not winded in the least.

Sakura came to a less graceful stop and doubled over to catch her breath a moment before she straightened and said, "To be fair, you got a head start."

"I did, didn't I?" Lee snorted. "I'm also recovering from some pretty serious injuries, or so my doctor tells me."

Sakura shook her head with a smile as she approached him. "They were serious...you're ok now as long as you're careful with that arm." She smacked him over the head at half her strength...she didn't want to put him back in the hospital.

Lee rubbed his head and cheered happily, "You hit me!"

"Yeah." She laughed. "I guess I did."

She had been dead inside for so long, it was refreshing to show any kind of emotion to someone.

"I'm glad to see you happy." Lee smiled.

Sakura cleared her throat and her smile disappeared. "We should probably go now." She turned to head back to the village, but Lee grabbed her hand.

"Just a few more minutes? The stars are beginning to come out."

Sakura looked down at his hand that covered hers. He felt warm and full of life. She wanted to jump into his arms and feel his warmth. She swallowed hard and shook her head.

Lee leaned in and teased. "Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark?"

She felt panic rise in her throat as she realized Lee was flirting with her and she wanted him to. She needed to detach from him and get as far away as possible.

He was still the same nice guy from when they were kids and her hand felt so good in his.

"Uhh, of course not! Don't be ridiculous." Sakura's voice shook.

Lee felt her hand shaking in his. "What's wrong? You're shaking all over. Are you cold?"

She jumped to agree with him, "Yeah!"

Lee pulled her to him quickly and put his good arm around her, hugging her close to his side. "Let's head back before you freeze, you're shaking pretty bad."

She relaxed against his warmth, as much as her mind was telling her to run, she couldn't bring herself to leave his side.

"Better?" Lee's voice was low and it vibrated through her body.

"Yes, thank you." She said quickly as they began walking back to the village.

Lee was dancing on air in the inside, she was actually letting him touch her. She wasn't yelling at him or hitting him. He didn't like it that she was still shaking a bit. I hope she's not getting sick, he thought to himself. Maybe if she gets sick, I'll get to take care of her and then she'll definitely fall in love with me!

Sakura was quiet for the most part on their walk back to the village. She listened to Lee go on and on about the latest technique he was working on. She would nod or hum encouragingly from time to time to show she was listening. She didn't even mind that he held on to her as they walked through the village. Truth being that she was so tired, she didn't care at this point who saw them.

"So..." Lee said. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah." Sakura answered quietly. "Are we almost to your house?"

"I figured I would take you home, I'm fine." Lee suggested.

Sakura shook her head. "I need to make sure I see you go home and get in bed."

"That's not necessary Sakura -"

"I signed your discharge papers saying I would do so." Sakura yawned.

Lee thought a moment. "Well, ok...then I'm taking you home."

"Lee don't be ridiculous." Sakura laughed. "I'll be fine, I can take myself home."

"Well, I know that. But..." He was interrupted by thunder.

"We need to hurry and get you home so your cast doesn't get wet."

They hurried to Lee's house. As if on cue, it began to rain as soon as they got to his door. He opened the door and gestured for her to come in as it began to pour rain.

"Oh, no thanks. I should probably get home." She smiled. "But thanks anyway."

"Just come inside and wait for it to let up. I don't feel good about sending you home in the rain." Lee had to raise his voice to be heard over the pounding rain.

"It's ok, really." She smiled, eager to put distance between them as she turned to leave. He stopped her by gently grabbing her arm.

"Then I'm coming with you." Lee smiled.

Sakura felt like she was going to explode. "Why are you so ridiculous?!" She shouted.

Lee blinked a few times before he laughed. "You're standing out in the rain yelling at me about being ridiculous?"

Sakura sighed, he did have a point. "I'm sorry." She gave in and stepped into the house as he closed the door behind her.

He tried not to notice how her wet clothes clung to her and left little to the imagination.

"I'll go get some dry clothes for you. Just uh, make yourself at home." Lee averted his gaze and ducked off into another room.

Sakura stood awkwardly in the living room for a moment, then walked over a shelf and began looking at the pictures he had on display. She smiled at the ones of him and Guy Sensei in various poses. He also had pictures of him with Tenten and Nenji. Some of them looked very recent. She sighed as she thought of a certain picture she kept face down on her night stand at home. She picked up the old picture of him with his teammates when they were children. If only she knew back then what she knew now, maybe she wouldn't have gotten so hurt by Sasuke. He didn't care how much she pleaded and cried, he left anyway.

Lee came back into the room quietly and froze when he saw her looking at the pictures. She was holding one of the picture frames and staring into the picture with such a sad expression. He wanted to know what she was thinking to look so sad. After a few moments, she carefully put the picture back down and ran her fingers through her soaked hair before turning around.

"Oh, hey." She quickly masked her sadness with a smile.

"They might be a little big on you, but at least its dry." He handed the clothes to her.

"Thanks." She chuckled as she took them. "You really like the color green."

"I thought it would bring out your eyes." Lee joked. "You can change in my room." He pointed down the hall. "Second door on the left."

She patted his arm and thanked him before heading in that direction.

Lee almost couldn't believe it, the teenager inside of him was turning cartwheels. Sakura was in his house...in his room changing clothes. His smile faded when he remembered how sad she looked. What happened to her? She used to be so brave and opinionated. Now she just smiles a lot and mostly stays quiet...not to mention the constant look of caution in her eyes. He saw a spark of the old Sakura when they were racing earlier, maybe she's still there, somewhere deep inside.

"I promise I will do whatever it takes to make her happy again." Lee vowed to himself aloud.

Sakura came back in the room quietly. "Where you talking to yourself, Lee?"

He turned to face her and scratched the back of his head. He was about to answer her, but his mind blanked when he saw her. She was wearing one of his green sweat shirts with the sleeves rolled up and some of pj pants. It was the sexiest thing he had ever seen a woman wear.

"Lee?"

"Uh...yes?" He shook himself from his daze.

She bit her lip through a smile as she plopped down on the couch. "You're so weird. You haven't changed a bit."

"Well," Lee cleared his throat, taking in the sight of her sitting on the couch in his pajamas. "It doesn't sound like the rain is going to let up any time soon... do you want to watch a movie or something?"

"I'm fine." Sakura settled back into the couch. "You should probably get some rest. I can let myself out when it stops raining."

"I don't need to rest right now." Lee groaned like a kid that didn't want to take a nap during nap time. "I've been resting all week."

Sakura rubbed her eyes and sighed, "Ok then, don't go to bed."

Lee sat down next to her. "Sakura-chan, can I ask you something?"

"The answer is no. You cannot use that arm for at least another week." She answered sternly.

Lee looked confused a moment. "Oh, no I wasn't going to ask about that."

"Oh," She rested her head against the couch and fought the urge to close her eyes. She realized she did have her eyes close when she heard Lee shifting around. Her eyes snapped open quickly. "What is it?"

"Are you happy?" Lee asked carefully.

Sakura looked at him. "What?"

"Are you happy?" He repeated with a serious expression.

Sakura smiled with a small laugh. "Right now? I guess so, I mean I'm really tired because some crazy ninja made me chase him after working all day."

Lee grinned. "Yeah, sorry about that. You have to admit it was fun though." She nodded in agreement before he continued, "But I meant overall. Are you happy with your life?"

Sakura was taken back from his question. She'd kept herself so busy over the past few years with work that she didn't know how to answer. She was one of the most respected doctors at the hospital and possibly the best. She could only respond with an, "uhhhh."

"I'm worried about you." Lee confessed.

Sakura smiled bravely. "Why? There's no reason to be worried about me. I've just been really busy with work. It makes me happy to help people, to be needed."

"Don't lie to me." Lee moved in closer to her. "And I'm not the only one who's worried."

Sakura remembered Tenten basically forcing her to spend time with her. "Well, that's just crazy because there's no reason to worry about me." She was beginning to feel the same panic from earlier as she realized the two of them were sitting so close together, their knees were almost touching.

"Are you still upset...about," Lee paused and worked up the nerve to finish his sentence, "Are you still upset Sasuke left because you still love him?" He flinched at the end of his question, expecting her to hit him, but she didn't. He opened his eyes to see her staring at him wide eyed.

She was thrown off guard by his question, she forgot how direct and blunt Lee could be. She had never talked about this with anyone.

"No." She whispered.

"No?" Lee tilted his head curiously.

"No I'm not still upset about him. I got over him years ago." Sakura exhaled. It felt good to say that out loud, it was the truth.

"Oh." Lee looked confused. "Then why shut everyone out?"

"I didn't shut everyone out." Sakura gasped.

"When's the last time you've had a meaningful conversation with someone that was conscious?" Lee asked.

She closed her eyes and sighed. "I don't know."

"Why?" Lee was about to touch her knee, but decided against it.

"Because there's no point." She opened her eyes and looked at him coldly.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it doesn't matter what you say or do to someone. They'll eventually move on and then you're left behind feeling like an idiot." She felt her eyes burn and looked away.

"Is that what you're worried about?" Lee wanted to hold her and tell her how untrue that statement was. He would never leave her.

"Yes." She wiped at her eyes. "I need to go." She stood. "I'm sorry, Lee."

Lee had enough of her trying to walk away. He pulled her back down into his lap and held her with one arm against his chest.

"Let me go." Sakura pushed at his chest, but he continued to hold her.

"No." Lee answered softly. "I will never let you go. You know how you just said it doesn't matter because people will move on and leave you behind?"

Sakura stopped struggling. "Yeah."

"Well, have you noticed you're the one that keeps trying to leave?" Lee squeezed her when he felt her nod. "Not everyone is like him. Do you think I'm like him?"

"No." Sakura whispered.

"Then what are you so afraid of?" Lee asked.

"I...I think I have..." Sakura took a deep breath. "I think I have feelings for you and I don't want to have these feelings because I don't want to get hurt like that again."

Lee felt his heart swell so big inside his chest it threatened to split. "You have feelings for me?" He loosened his hold on her so that she could look up at him. Her eyes were red from crying.

"Yes, Lee. I-"

He didn't let her finish. She had said the words he had wanted to hear from her for years. He kissed her with passion he had pent up for years for her. At first she went rigid, unsure of how to react, then she melted against him as she kissed him back. She felt light, like she had just let go of a weight she didn't realize she had been carrying.

He slid his hand down to the small of her back and pressed her closer to him. He wanted to be as close as possible. She let out a soft moan as their lips parted, encouraging him to slide his tongue into her mouth.

She slid her palms down his chest, feeling every wonderful muscle she got to see earlier that day in the hospital. He felt so warm and strong, she wanted to drown in him. Lee stood up, bringing her with him. He held her to him easily using one arm.

Sakura broke the kiss and hissed, "Be careful with your arm!"

He smiled against her lips, "Don't worry, I can do this using only one arm. This is the best training exercise ever!"

"Lee?" Her lips brushed against his as she spoke his name, it drove him wild.

"Yes?"

"Shut up." She pressed her lips to his and they continued to kiss.

He broke the kiss momentarily to say, "I will never speak again if that means you keep kissing me."

They continued to kiss as he walked them over to his bedroom and shut the door behind them.


End file.
